Santorum: Imam Rauf "Is A Jihadist"

Last night on Fox News, former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)
claimed that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the lead organizer of the planned Islamic
community center in Lower Manhattan, "is a
jihadist."

SANTORUM: My
thinking was all along if he made the statements that he made, he probably had
a lot more that are going to be found out. This
man is not a moderate Muslim. This is someone who believes the United States has blood on their hands, that the
United States
is responsible for this. He is a jihadist, he's just not a violent jihadist. That
does not make him a moderate.

Watch:

Santorum is referring to a 2005 speech, in
which Rauf
said that "the United States
has more Muslim blood on its hands than Al Qaeda has on its hands of
innocent
non Muslims." Despite the hystericaloutrage
on the
right, it's tough to justify why the statement is a big deal, especially
when
Rauf's very next sentence substantiated his point: "You may remember
that the
U.S.-led sanction against Iraq
led to the death of over a half a million Iraqi children."

It's very clear what Rauf is
saying--that U.S. policies
have contributed to misery in the Middle East
and South Central Asia and that misery is a key ingredient in a very
complicated stew from which radicalism spews forth. That conclusion
is entirely uncontroversial in military and
intelligence circles.

While many opponents of the Islamic center insist that their
concern is all about location and respect for the victims of 9/11,
Santorum
made it clear that he just has a problem with Muslims in general. "The
vast majority of the Muslim community,"
he argued, refuses to condemn terrorist groups like Hamas. Santorum
previously indicated
that Rauf's project would not be appropriate even if it were moved.